New World screwworm flies, highly destructive parasitic insects, have returned to parts of the U.S. and pose a significant danger. UC San Diego Professor Omar Akbari discusses how the insect was eliminated in the past and the ways new genetics technologies could help combat today’s threat.

Researchers from ELTE Eötvös Loránd University and the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network have now experimentally demonstrated that an ectothermic vertebrate infected with a virus actively seeks cooler, rather than warmer, environments to regulate its body temperature. This strategy, known as behavioural cooling, has so far been documented only rarely in the animal kingdom, having previously been reported in a handful of arthropod species infected with bacterial or viral pathogens and in rats infected with bacteria. The new findings suggest that behavioural cooling may also help animals to combat viral infections.

Diallyl disulfide is an organosulfur compound derived from garlic, and R-carvone is a monoterpenoid derived from spearmint. Researchers processed these compounds into oil-in-water nanoemulsions and applied it to the adzuki bean beetle—a known legume pest. The researchers found that the nanoemulsions were highly toxic against the pest, suggesting that they could be a promising environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pest-control agents.